Today's Edition
KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (DUBAI)
National news organisations are instrumental in amplifying the nation’s core values and traditions and thereby strengthening its unique standing on the global stage in a chaotic media landscape, said Dr. Hamad Al Kaabi, Chief Aletihad News Center Officer and Editor-in-Chief of Aletihad Newspaper.
Dr. Al Kaabi’s remarks came during the Arab Media Forum held in Dubai this week, where he spoke of the role and responsibility of national news organisations in society, and how he sees their evolution going forward.
Speaking to the crowd on Tuesday, Dr. Al Kaabi highlighted the inaugural broadcast of Abu Dhabi Radio back in 1969, which was delivered by none other than the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He said the inaugural speech, which highlighted moral and traditional codes, underpinned the country’s place in the world and exemplified the role public broadcasters, like Aletihad, play in an increasingly saturated and chaotic media landscape.
“When I read research by the national media on values and practices, I said to myself, let’s start from the beginning, from the very foundation of the country, February 19, 1969, when the Abu Dhabi Radio was launched and the first voice broadcast was the UAE’s Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan,” Dr. Al Kaabi told the crowd at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
“This radio broadcast should be concerned with Islamic and Arab concepts, spiritual values, morals, adherence to the true religion, Islam, authentic Arab customs, and traditions that we inherited from our fathers and grandfathers. We are an Arabic and Islamic nation, and we must adhere to Islam and its teachings, and teach Islam to our children and grandchildren, because this is our duty towards God, and God is the one who provides success.”
“I believe he summarised here the role of the national media. We should speak about this and learn from this,” Dr. Al Kaabi added.
Elaborating on this, he stressed that what was required of national broadcasters was to reinforce the concepts which form the fabric of a nation and society.
He said that this was increasingly crucial in an age where unfettered content online was widespread and consumed. National media was actively competing in this domain and rising to the challenge of the digital world, he added.
“In the traditional media we must overcome this phase as content on social media is consumed free of cost. Content developers on social media often do not abide by the rules of the profession,” he said.
“Our modern media is applying our concept to this new medium. Many of our people are providing very rich content for the online and social media space, it is important we focus on this.”
